A passenger using an elevator system has to let the control system of the elevator system know both his/her own arrival floor and the destination floor the passenger wants to reach. Traditionally, the passenger gives this call information by a two-step procedure such that, on the arrival floor the passenger first gives a landing call typically by means of arrow buttons and then, after an elevator has arrived at the customer's departure floor, the customer gives the system his/her destination floor information by pressing a car call button in a control panel in the elevator car. Due to its two-step nature, the traditional system requires the passenger to input two separate calls for one elevator ride, unless the elevator originally happens to be at the passenger's arrival floor or unless another person traveling in the same direction has input a landing call.
The number of calls to be input for one elevator trip can be reduced to one by using a so-called destination call system. Such a system is widely known and a system of this type is described e.g. in U.S. Pat. No. 3,374,864 granted already in 1968. In the destination call system, the passenger gives a destination floor call while still outside the elevator on a landing floor. On the basis of this single call, the elevator system allocates the most suitable elevator to the customer, and when the customer enters the elevator car no separate destination call needs to be given in the car.
Specification U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,324 describes a method and an apparatus for the input of calls to an elevator system via a wireless and portable transmitter. In this system the call is registered in the same way as if the call had been input from a traditional car control panel. The call input device has a keypad with keys that can be used to select a destination floor or give a special command to the elevator system. The receiver and its antenna may be placed in the car call panel if only calls given wirelessly in the elevator car are to be accepted. In the method of specification U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,324, wireless input of calls from outside the car from an elevator lobby is also mentioned. Elevator users have a personal “remote controller”, by means of which it is possible to give the destination floor already in the elevator lobby or while approaching the lobby. Placed in the lobby is also a receiver, which in this case transmits the call data to the elevator control system.
Specification U.S. Pat. No. 6,223,160 discloses a portable apparatus that can be used to input a call to an elevator system. The apparatus comprises input equipment, comprising a display and a keypad, that can be fastened e.g. to the user's wrist like a wrist watch. Included in the input equipment is an audio unit, which may comprise a microphone and a loudspeaker. The customer can input a call by vocally naming his/her destination floor, and the input equipment registers this acoustic signal. The received signal is converted into an electromagnetic signal, which can be sent by a separate transmitter. This signal can be received by a destination call terminal which is provided at the landing floor and which can also be used to input traditional destination calls in the same way as in destination control. From the destination call terminal, the call data are transferred further to the elevator control system. Over a wireless link, it is also possible to transmit information in the other direction. In this case, e.g. in elevator systems consisting of multiple elevators, the identifier (e.g. a letter code) of the elevator arriving to the customer can be shown on the display of the wrist device.
A problem with prior-art solutions is that the user interface is identical in all buildings used by the customer. Regardless of the locality where the elevator system is situated, the user has to key in the number of the destination floor via a traditional numeric keypad from zero to nine. Prior-art solutions do not use so-called single-key quick selection for selecting the destination floor because this would make the equipment dependent on the number of floors in the building. Thus, the problem with prior-art solutions is a lack of adaptability to different buildings, and this results in a low level of user friendliness of the call input equipment.